Snow day

Hesperia residents woke up Wednesday to the rare sight of snow in the city, and an even rarer occurrence: school cancelled because of it.

Shortly after 5 a.m., the call went out: The Hesperia Unified School District's Connect-ED automated telephone system began calling parents and employees with a recorded message.

"Hello, this is Mark McKinney, superintendent of the Hesperia Unified School District," the message began. "I apologize for calling so early this morning, but wanted to try to reach all of our families to let them know that school has been cancelled today because of inclement weather. ... This closure applies to any and all school activities. Thank you."

The HUSD's district office and school sites were closed as well.

The school district is scheduled to begin its winter break on Friday.

Snow days -- days off from school because of snow -- are common in many parts of the country, and the HUSD's has them built into the annual calendar, with days automatically made up later in the year if school has to be canceled, although in most years, the days are never used.

According to the Weather Channel's Weather.com site, Hesperia was expected to receive 4 to 6 inches of snow on Wednesday.

Beau Yarbrough can be reached at 956-7108 or at beau@hesperiastar.com.